SAN DIEGO — "Cowboys & Aliens" premiered to a star-studded and fan-filled crowd at the Comic-Con fan convention.

Stars Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Keith Carradine walked a red carpet flanked by fans who won a chance to sit in the adjacent bleachers. Director Jon Favreau and producers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer also got cheers as they walked the carpet, bringing a taste of Hollywood to downtown San Diego Saturday night.

Favreau said he wanted to unveil his science-fiction Western at Comic-Con to thank conventioneers for their support of the films he introduced there in previous years, including his two "Iron Man" movies. He showed early footage from "Cowboys & Aliens" during a Comic-Con panel last year, whetting fans' appetites for the film, and he invited them to be a part of the premiere to "see what that part of the equation is like."

"We got a lot of cardio running after the bricks" that contained a chance to attend the premiere, Lee said. "It's something we worked for really hard."

Favreau said he wanted fans to feel the excitement of the film — and he also wanted their genuine feedback.

"Comic-Con is a special place. I owe a debt of gratitude to the fans here," he said. "Taking an opera hall and turning it into a movie theatre, it was a tremendous undertaking but it was a dream and I'm glad we did it. It makes it special. I'll never forget this night.

"All the people who won the golden ticket, welcome to the chocolate factory!" Favreau said before introducing the film.

Fans also had an unforgettable evening that began with the red carpet and ended with a post-movie outdoor party with snacks, drinks and celebrities.

"I'm from South Africa, and my friends said that when I came to America, I would see celebrities, but I didn't think that would happen," said Rickus Ferreira, 26, who won a ticket to attend the premiere. "Then I got to see everyone!"

"Cowboys & Aliens" is set in the 1800s and centers on a small Western town suddenly attacked by aliens. The film opens in theaters on Friday.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Summer movie season

Summer's here, and the time is right for hiding in dark, air-conditioned theaters, watching some sequels that are already sequels to sequels. And perhaps a good original movie or two. Strap yourself in for the blockbusters to come -- "Bridesmaids," seen here, is already marching down the theater aisle. --Dave White
(Universal Pictures)
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'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (May 20)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush

What it is: "Pirates 4" focuses on something about mermaids and Blackbeard and zombies and the Fountain of Youth. Look, are you going to see this for the plot or because you want to watch Johnny Depp and Keith Richards out-stagger each other? Don’t lie to yourself.

Biggest fear going in: That the filmmakers will muddy the water with foolish ideas about having something to say instead of allowing Depp’s antics and the special effects to rule the moment.
(Peter Mountain / Disney Enterprises)
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'Kung Fu Panda 2' (May 27)

What it is: Having established his awesomeness as the awesomest fighting panda in the awesome original, Po (voiced by Black) returns in "Kung Fu Panda 2" to awesomely battle a very mean peacock.

Potential to be awesome: Show of hands, who didn’t like the first film? If the filmmakers don’t mess with that installment’s formula of great animation plus charm plus wit, all will be well and children’s karate classes will reap the benefits.
(DreamWorks)
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'The Hangover Part II' (May 27)

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms

What it is: "The Hangover Part 2" is, a) The same movie as before but in a new city and b) a kind of shameless cash-in and c) Zach Galifianakis’ ticket to never having to work again if he doesn’t feel like it (except he feels like it a lot and is currently tied with Natalie Portman in what feels like a bizarre ubiquity contest).

How funny it will be: Pointlessness be darned, you can count on Galifianakis. He owned the original and will probably do it again.
(Warner Bros)
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'X-Men: First Class' (June 3)

Starring: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, January Jones

What it is: "X-Men: First Class" is set in the early 1960s, showing how the X-Teens at Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters became the X-Adults. That means the cast is newer and younger and dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis. You probably never knew that mutant superheroes were part of that thing. That’s what you get for sleeping through history class.

A lesson in jump-starting a stalled franchise: After “X-Men: The Last Stand” annoyed its core audience, a tune-up was needed. What better way to accomplish that goal than to time-travel back to an origin story with a hip young cast? And it makes much more sense than simply saying, “OK, we’re going to make another first chapter film about 'The Incredible Hulk'” or “Hey, remember those old 'Spider-Man' movies from five minutes ago? They don’t count anymore.”
(20th Century Fox)
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'Super 8' (June 10)

Starring: Riley Griffiths, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning

What it is : It’s 1979 and some geeky, filmmaking kids find an alien. Not a cute one. You can call "Super 8" “Lost” co-creator J.J. Abrams’ more menacing “E.T.” if you want but what you can’t call it is a sequel or remake or reboot. And for a big movie landing smack-dab in the middle of the summer movie season, that feels like some kind of miracle.

Most excellent stamp of approval: Producer Steven Spielberg’s, of course. Advance word is that Abrams has made an exciting valentine to that director’s heyday. Now here’s hoping it lives up to those expectations and avoids falling into the cracks caused by an X-Men/Green Lantern earthquake.
(Paramount Pictures)
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'Green Lantern' (June 17)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard

What it is: Reynolds is The "Green Lantern." He wears a green suit, fights bad guys and works with an interplanetary corps of power-ring-wearing space cops to maintain order in the universe. Blake Lively plays someone who wears really fashionable clothes, no doubt. OK, lie, she plays an aerospace executive.

Extreme nerd alert: More than “Thor,” more than “Captain America,” this is the Comic-Con date movie of the summer. It comes with the most fan yearning attached and, therefore, the most to lose. If you aren’t on a date with a nerd when you see this, at least you’ll finally get what that circle-in-between-two-lines T-shirt means.
(Warner Bros.)
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'Mr. Popper’s Penguins' (June 17)

Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury

What it is: In "Mr. Popper's Penguins," a heartless corporate type (Carrey) learns to be nice when a brood of penguins show up at his doorstep (no word on whether or not he also learns to do that marching thing they’re so famous for). Based on the beloved classic children’s book, it could go a long way toward erasing the memory of Carrey's creepy animated “A Christmas Carol.”

Tailor-made for: Everyone.The book was published in 1938. That means it was also your grandmother’s childhood favorite. And who doesn’t love penguins?
(20th Century Fox)
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'Bad Teacher' (June 24)

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel

What it is: In "Bad Teacher," Cameron Diaz drinks and smokes weed. In the classroom. She hates the kids. She doesn’t care if they learn. Think an easier-on-the-eyes Billy Bob Thornton minus the Santa suit and you have every teacher union’s worst public relations nightmare.

What Diaz keeps proving: The pretty woman can also be the funny woman. And if this one and “Bridesmaids” hit audiences in the right spot, that whole grown-up female comedy snowball will just get bigger, badder and more impossible for Hollywood to ignore.
(Columbia Pictures)
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'Cars 2' (June 24)

Starring: Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine

What it is: Um… OK, so… now the cars are… spies? Whatever, "Cars 2" is about these talking cartoon automobiles, see, and you have to take your children to it. No exceptions. It’s the Pixar joint that’s least loved by adults and most loved by the under-10s, but you have to concede that even when this studio is only batting .500, that’s a way better average than just about everybody else.

Coolest marketing move they could make: Give away tickets. That’s right, let everyone in for free. Pixar already makes about a billion dollars a year on toys and talking Larry The Cable Guy toothbrushes — no joke, they do — so why not just consider the movie itself a loss leader?
(Ho / Reuters)
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'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' (July 1)

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

What it is: In "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," the cars-that-turn-into-robots continue their never-ending quest to fight and fight and fight and fight. And this time they do all that on the moon and in 3-D. Haters are invited to go see “The Help” or that new Woody Allen movie, whatever it’s called.

Funny joke Michael Bay has already made publicly: He claims that because this one is in 3-D, he held the camera still for more than half a second at a time. What’s he trying to do, make an art film or something? Brace yourself for coherent visuals.
(Paramount Pictures)
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'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows -- Part Two' (July 15)

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

What it is: 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows -- Part Two' is THE movie of the summer, 10 years in the making. When other sequels tell you they’re the last in the series, they’re always lying to you. This one isn’t. So long, Harry.

Chance it will live up to its own hype: Have you seen that trailer? Or, for that matter, have you seen the most recent bigger, better, darker Potter films? The “Boy Who Lived” is going out with a big bang.
(Warner Bros.)
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'Winnie The Pooh' (July 15)

Starring: Voices of Jim Cummings, John Cleese, Craig Ferguson

What it is: In "Winnie the Pooh," Eeyore the donkey needs a new tail so Pooh and his pals in the Hundred Acre Wood help him find one. Honey is also consumed. And then Piglet and Tigger turn into giant metallic fighting robots and make fart jokes. Guess which one of those plot points is fake.

What’s the appeal?: They are not digital animals interacting with a live-action Christopher Robin. They are not in 3-D. They are rated “G.” They do not conduct a dance-off to “Baby Got Back.” They are as old-fashioned and sweet as you remember them. Need any more reasons?
(Disney Enterprises)
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'Captain America: The First Avenger' (July 22)

Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones

What it is: The theme song to the crudely animated Saturday morning cartoon of the 1960s really says it all about "Captain America: The First Avenger": “When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield. If he’s led to a fight and a duel is due, then the red and the white and the blue’ll come through.” And in this introductory course in all things Captain, he throws his shield at Nazis during World War II. Klang!

Where all this is leading: Marvel is building a kingdom at the movies. It started with “Iron Man” and continues with “Thor” and will soon encompass this and other superhero characters that will team up and form The Avengers. If you’re one of those people who wish all this stuff would just go away, sorry but you’re out of luck. It’s just gearing up. For the rest of you: WHOOO-HOOOO!
(Marvel Entertainment)
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'Cowboys & Aliens' (July 29)

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

What it is: "Cowboys and Aliens" is exactly what it says it is — cowboys in the Old West find themselves battling aliens, only without the benefit of a history of science-fiction movies and TV shows informing their sensibility. In other words, no “Star Wars” points of reference to hang their strategy on. Sorry, Han Solo.

What’s at stake, box-office-wise: The production schedules of other genre mash-up style projects like “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”
(Universal Pictures)
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'The Smurfs' (July 29)

Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria

What it is: It's "The Smurfs," an adventure revolving around characters who haven’t been seen on Saturday-morning TV for decades — not that selling nostalgia to parents and cute CG creatures to kids wasn’t a winning formula for the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" franchise. The tiny blue dudes (and one tiny Smurfette) cross over from their magical land to New York City where, presumably, Harris can at least help them pick up hard-to-get tickets for Broadway shows.

Parental advisory: It’s quite likely your children will leave the theater wanting to buy little blue dolls and/or using various forms of “Smurf” to substitute for any and all other words. But there are worse things than that.
(Sony Pictures)
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'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (Aug. 5)

Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis

What it is: The prequel "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is actually sort of a remake of 1972’s “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes,” which was one of the sequels to the original “Planet of the Apes,” which was itself weirdly remade by Tim Burton a few years back. Confused yet? Have a banana and calm down.

Lingering question: Did Franco take this gig because it’s part of his ongoing life-as-art project, which includes a stint on “General Hospital,” gallery exhibitions of his own weird video work revolving around cultural offerings like “My Own Private Idaho” and “Three’s Company,” hosting the Oscars and strenuously colleging his way to half a dozen graduate degrees? Or does he just really like jobs?
(20th Century Fox)
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'The Help' (Aug. 12)

Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek

What it is: "The Help" is that book everybody's book club loved so much. White Southern belles and their African-American maids negotiate the upheaval surrounding the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.

'Fright Night' (Aug. 19)

Starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette

What it is : "Fright Night" is a remake of the schlocky 1985 horror movie that no one was demanding be remade.

What’s already very, very strange about it: The project stars Toni Collette and Colin Farrell, two respected actors whose careers tend to point more in the direction of leading roles in higher-profile indie films. And its director is Craig Gillespie, who made the Oscar-nominated/Sundance Film Festival hit “Lars and The Real Girl.” So it’s the arthouse “Fright Night” now?
(DreamWorks II)
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'Spy Kids 4: All The Time in The World' (Aug. 19)

Starring: Jessica Alba, Jeremy Piven, Joel McHale

What it is: In "Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World," the spy kids grew up and, presumably, went off to spy university or something, but they do appear — in what capacity is uncertain — in this movie that’s all about Jessica Alba as a spy mom . Look, whatever it takes.

'Conan the Barbarian' (Aug. 19)

Starring: Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan

What it is: "Conan the Barbarian" gets the reboot treatment with newcomer Momoa (“Stargate Atlantis,” "Game of Thrones") as the man who devotes equal time to sword-swinging, death-avenging and pectoral-oiling. There was much more opportunity to fully commit oneself to each pursuit in fantasy olden times of yore.

Beware the ides of, well, August: This very late summer release might not be the best news for fans of this title. It’s from the man whose last films were the reboots of “Friday the 13th” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and has, sadly, a distinctly minor-league vibe going on already. Also, the closer a film’s release is to Labor Day, the more it all starts to smell like “clearance sale.” Forewarned is forearmed.
(Simon Varsano / Lionsgate)
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'Final Destination 5' (Aug. 26)

Starring: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, David Koechner

What it is: With "Final Destination 5," Death is not a guy you can trust to just go away, even after he promises everything’s cool. He’s got more teens to kill in convoluted ways, this time starting with a suspension bridge collapse and, who knows, maybe winding up at a miniature golf course. All bets are off.

Lies piled up on top of lies: The previous installment was titled “THE Final Destination” and we all believed you. Clearly, “final” means something else in your dictionary, movie.
(New Line Cinema)
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Editor's note:
This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.